![Ten hours of dual instruction in a tailwheel-equipped aircraft is usually required for proficiency. [Credit: AdobeStock]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/AdobeStock_354747155.jpg?w=534&h=462&crop=1 "Learning How to Drag Your Tail")
![The alternative to bending down as the propeller is pulled through the compression stroke is to keep the back straight and bend the knees slightly, stepping away in a crouch. [Credit: LeRoy Cook]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/IMG_1519-scaled.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Manual Starting Methods")
![The newly-restored F-24 enjoying the morning sun. [All Images Credited to Mike Davenport]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/DSC_0001.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Golden Age Revival")
![[Credit: AdobeStock]](https://www.kitplanes.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/AdobeStock_176619176.jpg?w=265&h=198&crop=1 "Instructional Inflexibility")
Going Around
Gallons of ink have been dedicated—with only minor effect—to figuring out what it is that joins pilots together. But clearly there’s something in the...
A Lesson in Control(s)
This is a story of a simple thing overlooked. It involves a basic concept of aircraft construction and maintenance that I have shared with...
Pilot: The Verb
I pretend to play guitar. To my neighbor’s irritation, I use a real guitar when I pretend, not an air guitar. While learning new...
Flying: Part Science, Part Artform
Many years ago, I had a position in the training department of my regional airline. In addition to the needs of our own airline,...
Just a Trim, Please
Being well out of trim myself at the time, staying busy whirling the little knobbed wheel in the Cessna 150 trainer never appeared overly...
Funny Money
When I was a kid, way back in the 1960s, one of the toughest decisions I had to make was whether to buy a...
Murphy’s Law, Occam’s Razor
Ed, an aerospace engineer, and Bill, a 14th Century philosopher, walk into your workshop…and if you’re smart you’ll let them stay and you’ll hear...
Missing Red Bull
Am I alone when saying the Red Bull Air Races were not my ideal of aviation pursuit? I surprise myself a little saying that,...
COVIDity Blues
As I write this, it is the Ides of March in the year that will live in infamy. We are all aviators or we...
What’s Next for Aviation in America? (Hint: No AirVenture)
Never have I wanted a column of mine to become obsolete, inconsequential, a curious blip in time more than this one. In the 30...
In Case You Missed It
A Sign of the Zodiac (Part 7)
It’s about the journey, not the destination, as Rick Lindstrom’s homebuilt Zodiac 601 XL is ferried by friends from Florida to its new home in Cloverdale, California.
Free Flight: Embracing New Ideas
Embracing new ideas in avionics and other areas of aviation will allow us to enjoy the benefits and move the industry forward.
